New eFitnessExchange envisioned as fitness version of "craigslist"

A new website still in its infancy is envisioned by the creator and founder as a classifieds page for quality fitness equipment — much like craigslist but just for fitness equipment.

Now only launching in Canada, eFitnessExchange (www.efitnessexchange.ca) will not be involved in the transactions but simply provide the space online to let people sell their used equipment.

“I thought there was a need in the market where someone could go to find fitness equipment,” said founder Steve Brown. “Ideally, I want it geared more toward specialty fitness” level equipment.

He said there are plenty of places one can find the used, lower-price equipment, from newspapers to eBay, but it can be hard for someone to sell a higher-end piece as well as for somebody to find one among all the ads for cheaper gear.

Eventually, Brown said, he could imagine retailers would be able to set up stores to sell their trade-ins, like on eBay, plus clubs could use the site to sell off used equipment or manufacturers could have a transparent way to sell overstocks. Since it has to be geographically based due to the cost of shipping equipment — like craigslist is broken down by regions and cities — eFitnessExchange will expand slowly. But one day, he said he’d like to see the business also active in the United States.

“A consumer could see the equipment and the prices and what part of the country the equipment is in,” he explained.

In early 2008, he said he plans to give consumers the ability to give opinions and rate products, much like TripAdvisor does for hotels and in the travel industry.

“I think there’s a market for this,” he said. “We’re waiting for traffic.”

Brown can be reached at efitnesstrader@yahoo.ca.